Thirty-three previously treated patients with advanced non-Hodgkin's lymphoma refractory to first-line therapy were treated with one of two combinations. Initially, patients who had not received Adriamycin before were treated with Adriamycin, VM-26 and Bleomycin. Patients previously exposed to Adriamycin were treated with platinum, VM-26 and bleomycin. Eleven patients received the platinum regimen and only 1 of the 11 responded. In view of this poor response rate, this arm was discontinued and all patients, regardless of previous Adriamycin exposure were then put on the other regimen. Of 22 patients treated with the Adriamycin combination, there were 11 objective responses (50%) of which 6 were CR. Overall median survival for responders (CR + PR) was 11.5 months compared with 4 months for non-responders (p=.004). Five patients were treated with the Adriamycin combination despite prior Adriamycin and 3 of these 5 responded (2 CR, 1 PR). Hematologic toxicity was severe in 15/126 courses and there were 11 infectious episodes and 3 therapy-related deaths: from cardiotoxicity in 1, from sepsis in 2. We conclude that Adriamycin, VM-26 and bleomycin is an active combination in previously treated patients with NHL.